Lord Peter Wimsey and his detective novelist wife Harriet Vane return in Jill Paton Walsh’s brilliant new continuation of Dorothy L. Sayers’s classic mysteries.
When a dispute among the fellows of St. Severin’s College, Oxford University, reaches a stalemate, Lord Peter Wimsey discovers that as the Duke of Denver he is “the Visitor”—charged with the task of resolving the issue. It is time for Lord Peter and his detective novelist wife Harriet to revisit their beloved Oxford, where their long and literate courtship finally culminated in their engagement and marriage.
At first the dispute seems a simple difference of opinion about a valuable manuscript that some of the fellows regard as nothing but an insurance liability, which should be sold to finance a speculative purchase of land. The voting is evenly balanced. The warden would normally cast the deciding vote, but he has disappeared. And when several of the fellows unexpectedly die as well, Lord Peter and Harriet set off on an investigation to uncover what is really going on at St. Severin’s.
With this return to the Oxford of Gaudy Night, which many readers regard as their favorite of Sayers’s original series, Jill Paton Walsh revives the wit and brilliant plotting of the golden age of detective fiction.
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"Addicted as I am to the Lord Peter/Harriet Vane stories, I can't say this is my favorite. The mystery is a good one, set in Oxford and is full of interesting insights into the academic life of one of the colleges in the mid 20th century (tho I can't comment on authenticity in that regard.) However, my favorite aspect of the Lord Peter/Harriet novels is their brainy and literate interplay, and that was largely missing for me in this novel. Not that there isn't plenty of conversation between the two in the development of the mystery--but on this listening it seemed pat and predictable rather than insightful and interesting. And although Matthew Brenher did a good job as reader, Edward Petherbridge is a hard act to follow..."
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Rachel (5 out of 5 stars)